Familiar Desires: 5 (Protective Affairs) Read Online Free Page A

control.
    Once they were out of sight of the main dining area, Carson
turned to her. “Is something wrong?”
    He knew there was. He could see it, but she realized he
wanted to get her to focus on him. It didn’t help calm her down, but she did
understand it.
    “He’s my mate. They’re my mates.” She took a deep breath,
trying to get a little control of herself and of the urge to rush in there and
rip the woman away from him.
    “Who? Do they know it?” Carson frowned and glanced back
toward the dining room.
    “Kane and Michael. Yes, they know. We found out last night.”
She clenched her fists again and her claws dug into her palms as her anger
rose.
    “And he’s not alone.” Carson grimaced.
    A growl rumbled through her at the words, but tears burned
the back of her eyes. “No. Maybe he doesn’t know what he wants, but seeing
them… I want to rip into her and him. I can’t see it again.”
    “Come with me. You won’t have to see it.” He urged her out
of the restaurant.
    She went. If she didn’t, she was going to rip that woman’s
face off. As they stepped out onto the sidewalk, she drew in a shuddering
breath. She hadn’t ever thought she’d be so close to losing control.
    Kane was obviously interested in that redhead. She didn’t
understand how he could be with that woman after experiencing the strength of
the ties between them. He’d felt the connection happen. She’d seen it in his
eyes last night. How could he feel that and then hold another woman? Alana
shook her head. She couldn’t make them want to be with her.
    “Don’t do anything rash. Give it a little thought before you
make any decisions.” Carson put a hand on her shoulder. “This is as new to them
as it is to you.”
    “How am I supposed walk around town when he’s dating her?
How am I supposed to keep control if I see them on the street?” She glanced at
the restaurant.
    * * * * *
    A hand touched her shoulder, drawing her back to the
present. Alana turned her head and bared her teeth at the man who’d touched
her. He held up his hands.
    Thinking about that day still hurt. After feeling the force
of their link, she’d known there was something powerful between them. Even if
she hadn’t realized it as soon as she smelled them, the intense connection of
their Familiar bond would have assured her that they were her mates. A deep
sense of betrayal had sliced through her when she’d seen Kane with that woman.
While she might have been thinking about coming back to see if a relationship
between them was possible, she wasn’t going into it with lies and old feelings
still festering. She had a mission to complete now, but she wanted the truth
out there and she wanted to know why they’d done it.
    “I’m Michael,” the man in the black shirt said with a smile.
“You don’t happen to have the letter still do you?”
    “It might be in the things in my parents’ house. I didn’t
take it with me.” She shrugged. “It wasn’t only the letter though. It was what
I saw that day too.”
    “Were you just not ready to be a Familiar? All you had to do
was say something and we would have given you time.” Kane frowned.
    “I don’t know if I was or not, but I know you weren’t or
have you forgotten who was in your lap, kissing you that afternoon at Sasha’s.”
She glared at both of them. “I might not have been sure of a lot of things, but
that definitely made my decision. You can’t be so jaded that you’ve forgotten it.”
    She wasn’t going to let them put all the blame on her so
they could look good in front of their Council. They were the reason she left. She
wasn’t going to force even the Familiar connection on them when they didn’t
want it.
    If they’d needed time to think, all they had to do was ask.
Sure the attitude she’d received every time she’d called home had irritated
her, but it was the fact that no one even asked her why she felt so strongly.
No, it was always the same thing. Come home to your